Since I was late in delivery I am going to post a FREE downloadable holiday card this weekend! So, keep and eye out for my next post.

It's been a hectic December so far here in California. I have actually been very busy at work (something new), and we live really close to the large Thomas fire which completely took our attention for the last 2 weeks. We are thankful that we were outside evacuation zones, but our friends, co-workers and offices were in danger which is just as worrisome. The air quality comes and goes now as they are still trying to get more containment. Hoping things continue to get better, and that we can find a way to help out our neighbors in need.

For something completely different... My sister encouraged me to participate in a holiday craft fair at her office back East. I had left some art pieces and was able to employ my Mother to help with sewing up tea towels for the event. They did such a wonderful job! I believe they sold over $500 dollars in merchandise - I think this means I need to devote more time to focusing on products and designs.

Which brings me to my plans for the next project. I want to ensure I post something to social media everyday - But I think to keep things lively I want to try to have a couple different types of projects going. First goal, take a hard look at my schedule and figure out how to make the most of my available time :)

Hi Everyone - Here is the foldable desk calendar for November. A fat little squirrel among the falling leaves. Not many of those on the west coast, maybe one of first things I am missing so far. I hope enjoy the calendar, and if you want you can read more about my process for this project below.

I am new to the illustration industry, so late last year I decided to figure out a personal project where I could promote myself and get my work out there while still exploring my style. I knew I could get bogged down with other clients and projects; so it had to be something I could create and share quickly while still looking polished. Something that was tangible, allowing people to interact with my art. I decided a monthly calendar image would be just right for my goals.

I love learning new things, and had spent the last year creating and experimenting drawing digitally. I got an iPad Pro and threw myself into all the apps and tools. I find that the Procreate App is one of the best since it is easy to use and has great pencil brushes available. I am able to draw fast and loose maintaining the expressive quality of my lines, while giving me the freedom to hit “undo”. Don’t get me wrong, I still create on paper because I know when I draw with my favorite brush pen I am more thoughtful as I work and I get all the happy accidents that happen when you can’t erase. So I decided that I needed to merge the two. Get the look and feel of my favorite brush pen, while having the freedom of digital drawing.

I Googled “how to make a Procreate brush”, and the internet came through. I found a wonderful short tutorial by Teela Cunningham - She is a great resource and I recommend checking out her Skillshare classes as well. I made a few small strokes in my sketchbook with my favorite brush pen, and took a picture of the marks with my phone. I imported that image into Photoshop, adjusted size and contrast, so I had a variegated mark with smooth non pixelated edges which I could import to the Procreate app as a source image for a new brush.

I spent a little time fine tuning all the pressure sensitivities to mimic my favorite pen, and then I was done! The whole process took about 30 minutes and I was set for drawing with the line quality of my analog brush pen, but with the digital benefit of layers and erasing.

To save myself more time throughout the year I created a template file for my calendar. I did a little more research about how to make boxes, and troubleshooted all the instructions and assembly ahead of time. Created a simple layout and typed up all the numbers for each month. Now I was ready to just plug and play each print file throughout the year once the art was done.

Making the time to learn something new, and think critically about the long term project, saved me time in the long run, and gave me the freedom to get lost in the drawing and explore my style further. Now I have a great collection of drawings and new learnings about myself and my process. I feel more prepared to tackle my next challenge to share work and process more frequently. I am going to itemize the goals, think critically about the production, trouble shoot and prep as much as I can now so I can get lost in the art!

*Note:This is my first attempt at sharing some in depth process information - I want to do this more and therefore this post will be updated over the course of the next 2 weeks as I refine my writing and prep some reference documentation. Feedback and suggestions welcome :)

I am like most people out there with way more on my to-do list than I can accomplish. So, this month's goal is to narrow my focus and finish projects. The biggest project on my list is my Skillshare class, after that, it is focusing on my hand lettering. There are other projects that I have to finish for clients, a local conference, and blog. Those are all doable in the first week of the month, and so should not slow me down for the goal of completing the class. I plan to give it at least 20 min each day, start small so I can ease back in. One big goal, a short list - Hold me, accountable people!

I tried a new style, and started it too close to the end of the month - Plus I went out of town to Seattle so the combination of all that with Big client projects just bit me in the butt.

Long story short - I have learn a lot over the last month about new clients, old clients, and balance freelance with a full time job. Ps, its hard - but you already new that. I am going to be digging out of my project load, and into some new tools to help me balance everything and I will share it all online.

Plus I will share another FREE download this month to make up for this one being so late :)

It is a day of remembrance for me, and I hope you all are safe after the last few weeks of tough times with natural disasters. Stay safe - and be thankful.

Well, I was all ready to go the day before and then I couldn't locate any of my camera cables. I tried a variety of wireless ways to get the pictures but as you may have noticed they didn't work. Good thing I was using wine as a prop in my photo!

I had lots of fun drawing this month's animal and foliage. I tried to play around more with detail in the leaves. Still hoping I will imagine plants as lovely as nature grows them, but practice makes perfect.

As I mentioned last month I have been trying to find steady income since we moved, and it finally came to a head with a new in-house opportunity that started last week. It should be a nice change of pace, and I have chosen a role that will not over burden my creative brain. Not to say that it won't be challenging, more that I hope once I am settled I will be comfortable working extra hours on work for clients and my illustration portfolio.

Of course, one week in and I got two new client request and another interview offer for a full-time position. When it rains it pours!

I know I haven't delivered on my Skillshare Class or some other projects but I am getting close. A huge burden was lifted this week when my condo in DC went to settlement! So no more double rents, bills and the like! Man, I am so thankful that my agent was AMAZING! Doing this remote would have been so much more stressful if she hadn't taken on so much. Repairs, staging, photos, and more. Plus it was sold in under a month which is the fastest anyone has sold in that building for years. Woo Hoo!

Now to get set up to tackle all things freelance and in-house at the same time - No biggie right?

Hello from the east coast again - Yep more traveling. We are back on this side of the country for some wedding celebrations. Plus we had the chance to spend a couples days hanging out with friends and family again.

I am going to keep this short since I have to get ready for another wedding. I will check back in again and add more updates on what I have been working on and what I plan to complete this month. I hope you all enjoy the Holiday Weekend!! Happy Fourth of July!

Ok - So I got caught up in getting ready for the festivities and missed posting :(

I had my photo and the file all ready to go and then off we ran to the wedding and I forgot. It is so easy to let things get in the way of your plans for the day or the month. I have been working like crazy to find new freelance and even full time oppotunities since we moved. All the searching and applying has really distracted me from being creative. I finally have a few good leads over the last week - So I hope I can relax a bit and take some time this weekend to work on my personal projects.

What do you guys use to stay on track with your planning and projects? Google Calendar - or maybe some other kind of time tracker task manager? I think I will start small and block out thing on a paper calendar and google calendar. For me, it always helps to write things down.

Well I hope you enjoy the Calendar even though it is late. And I hope you all are enjoying the Summer weather!

These are my daily sketches from our big cross country move. I decided to draw in the car and embrace all the "mistakes" that may happen along the way. I think this really freed me up to explore more lettering and be more loose with my drawings. Enjoy!

While we still need to finish unpacking, set up our desks, and hang pictures - But, it's really nice to finally have an address. It was pretty crazy driving around searching for something that fit our needs and budget... good thing we are used to DC prices :) We were not used to the lack of appliances that convey with rentals - ugh!

We have a lot more space and sunshine out here, but we are down a car for the time being. Luckily the traffic going north is not so bad, and I have time to explore the area. There is delicious ice cream, tasty fish tacos, and lots of coffee shops!

Check out some of our travel adventures via my Instagram. Hope you all are getting to enjoy warmer weather where you are!

It has been a busy month, and we are still not done. We finished our 8-day trip across the country moving from D.C. to California. While we got our cars today, we still need to find a new apartment so we can get all our stuff. We had SO MUCH stuff!! I am definitely going to be reading and re-reading the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.

I was so close to getting this out in the world on time (EDT), but we spent half the day trying to get our cars from the delivery guys, and then return the rental, and so and so on.

Now, I need to catch up on MATS Bootcamp, everyone's work looked amazing this past month. Plus there are two bonus assignments for the at-home courses. Also, if anyone out there in the LA area needs a designer, illustrator, or production artist - Send me an email - I am in the market to make new connections :)

Hi Everyone - Yes, I know my calendar is delayed. I had it all ready to go and then life happened. Of course this lion was to play off the fact that I thought March would go out like a lion, but we only got a little snow and now the weather is spring like again! Also, you can see my buddy Brixton in the background - he is my cutest prop :)

I finished my piece for the first assignment of MATS Bootcamp (see below) just in time for family to come visit. This was a tricky assignment - in the sense that is sounded easier than it was. We had to create abstract patterns for a backpack. Creating abstract work is something I explored during my post grad year in Baltimore but it has always been a challenge for me since I like to drawing realistically. So I focused on mark making to start, scribbles and textures. Then I made some close crops on some abstract shapes I had drawn from electric lines and some of my leave drawings for a more modern feel. Overall I am pleased, and I hope I can continue to practice abstract work a little each week.

Now I am trying to finish up some other projects while we figure out moving logistics. No time in there to work on my class unfortunately. I am super nervous, but excited too - I think a new place will open up new creative opportunities that are not readily available here in DC. At the very least it will give me new scenery to be inspired by. It's a big move so I am anxious, but I think I will try to devise a project that I can work on during the process to focus that energy somewhere else. Maybe a little travel log or map project? The 100daysproject is starting today - Maybe this will have to be part of that?

Hi Everyone! It's March - one of my favorite months. Besides the fact that the weather is still unusually warm (probably means we get hit with some snow soon - blah), there are lots of birthdays this month, and spring training has started. So, this month's calendar is a Lamb or Sheep - while the weather is still nice.

As you can see by the picture, I have a contract job and an actual desk this month. What a difference sunlight and a real camera make in photography! I think I will add a new photo this weekend when I can break out all my photography supplies.

I am still wrapping up my Skillshare class. I found that while I was filming I needed to edit my scripts. Then, as I was editing I need to add overlays or shorten my audio. Sigh.

So, more re-working of things this week. Filming pick-ups this weekend, more editing and hopefully - HOPEFULLY- publishing by next weekend. Fingers crossed!

Well, I will post about my progress this weekend. Enjoy the calendar and have a great rest of your week!

Hi Everyone! It's February - unusually warm in DC but its pretty nice not getting stuck in horrible snow traffic. I decided to redraw a rabbit from a project last spring for this month's desk calendar. I think it turned out great, and I am really enjoying making these printables!

As far as my new year goals, I am making progress! I have re-opened my Etsy shop and even made a couple small sales. I will be adding this rabbit drawing there later this week as an instant download.

I am in the process of writing the script and filming my Skillshare class. I got some great compliments on the outline and even won a nice microphone for my efforts! So I will be learning how to capture awesome sound and how best to edit everything in Premiere. Yay learning new programs! Once, I have the final cut of my intro video I will share it here - I am hoping that people who enjoy making fabric designs will really find the class helpful.

So all that is left is my illustrated food dairy - It is always on my mind as I cook. I have been collecting recipes, kitchen essentials and other thoughts about what to share, now I just need to schedule the time into my weekly routine. Should go smoother once the Skillshare class is published. Small steps are still steps forward - Hope you all have a wonderful day!

I created this desk calendar for you to print out and make at your desk today. It was fun figuring out the pattern, and challenging writing the instructions. (Let me know if you have questions) I hope it livens up your workstation and makes you smile. If you had fun with this please share your pics on Instagram and tag me @kathubbs.

Like most people I have a bunch of resolutions that I want to achieve this year. So far I haven't said them all out loud - so they don't count right?

I am going to put an art spin on all the goals I have (in hopes of making them easier to achieve) and share my work here on the site and on Instagram.

The first goal, besides really starting my blog, is creating a Skillshare class. I signed up for their next teacher challenge and have a rough idea of the course. It can be challenging thinking of what to teach - I have a list of topics but I am always open to suggestions if you have them. For this first class I am going with my first instinct, but hopefully I will be inspired to keep on making courses this year.

Other projects in the works - Food Dairy, Instant Downloads, and reviving my Etsy Shop. Ok now I have said a bunch out loud, keep me accountable internet. Lol. Have a great day everyone!

I took Julie Rothman's Skillshare class yesterday about how to make repeat tiles by hand - and it was awesome. Her class is simple, short and entertaining, I highly recommend it! I think it took me less than ten minutes to make the patterns - ok I am probably exaggerating but it was just so much fun. I plan to scan, vectorize and color the patterns tonight and share them as soon as possible on Spoonflower.